Prime Minister is Missing Teachers Notes

THE PRIME MINISTER IS MISSINGTEACHERS NOTESthan it is even-tempered and informative? Support your viewpoint with examples from the film, in 300-350 words.• The film is billed in publicity as a ‘forensic investigation’. Discuss in class what this might mean, and whether,on evidence, it is a valid description of The Prime Minister is Missing. Students may also like to compare theinvestigative approach in this program to the technique used by director Peter Butt in another of his documentaryfilms produced for Film Australia, Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler?)• Make a note of the ‘conspiracy theories’ presented during the film. How do you think the film presents and valuesthese theories? Is the film dismissive of them without justification and evidence? Does it adequately disprove them?Does evidence mounted from other areas of the investigation simply outweigh and discredit them?• Discuss in class both the value and the inherent problems and possible dangers of a documentary film drawingon the memories and opinions of eyewitness subjects and those closely involved in the events depicted, providingexamples from the program to support your comments.• How would you promote The Prime Minister is Missing as a billboard display? Discuss the possibilities in class thenconstruct your own promotional poster that captures an impression of the film’s subject and purpose in both textand illustration. How, for example, would you aim to capture the attention of an audience under 20 years old, manyof whom may never have heard of Harold Holt?• In 300-400 words write a review of The Prime Minister is Missing, designed for a popular weekly TV magazine.References and Further ResourcesBooks and other published literature:Australia in the 1960s, Rigby, Adelaide, 1980Tom Frame, The Life and Death of Harold Holt, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, 2005David Goldsworthy, Losing the Blanket: Australia and the End of Britain’s Empire, Melbourne University Press, CarltonSouth, 2002Anthony Grey, The Prime Minister was a Spy, Hodder & Stoughton, Lane Cove, 1983Bridget Griffen-Foley, Party Games: Australian Politicians and the Media from War to Dismissal, Text Publishing,Melbourne, 2003Zara Holt, My Life and Harry: An Autobiography, The Herald, Melbourne, 1968Donald Horne, The Lucky Country Revisited, Dent, Knoxfield, 1987James Jupp, Party Politics: Australia 1966-1981, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1982Greg Langley, A Decade of Dissent: Vietnam and the Conflict on the Australian Homefront, Allen & Unwin, North Sydney,1992John Larkin and Geoffrey Barker, The Holt Report: A Full Investigation into the Death of the Prime Minister, Mr Harold Holton December 17, 1967, The Age (an Age ‘Insight’ book), Melbourne, 1968Sarah Newton, Maxwell Newton: A Biography, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, South Fremantle, 1993Report by the Commonwealth and Victoria Police in the Disappearance of the Prime Minister the Right Honourable HaroldHolt, Cheviot Beach, Portsea, Victoria, Sunday, 17 December 1967, National Archives, Canberra, 1968Film/TV:Peter Butt (director), Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler?, Film Australia, 2006Iain Gillespie (director), The Harold Holt Mystery, Ten Network, 1985Websites:Australian Prime Ministers (Use the site search tools and the research map to find information on these relevantprime ministers, listed here in their order of service: Robert Menzies, Harold Holt, John McEwen, John Gorton, WilliamMcMahon, Gough Whitlam):www.primeministers.naa.gov.auArthur Calwell:www.blognow.com.au/arthurcalwell(Lord) Richard Casey:www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130426b.htm